Culvert.



A. W. CROTSLY & W. M. SAWYER.

CULVERT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. m4.

1,149,736. Patented Aug. 10,1915.

COLUMBIA PLANoukAPl-l 20., WAsHlNG'r'oN. D. c.

UNITED STATES r rnur OFFICE. I

ASHEL W. CROTSLY AND WILL M. SAWYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CULVERT.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

Application filed February 21, 1914;-- Serial No. 820,339.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, AsHEL IV. CRo'rsLY andWILL M. SAWYER, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Culverts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to culvertsor pipes adaptedfor use asdrains, well curbing and flume work and has more particular reference tocorrugated metal culverts formed in sections adapted to be nestedtogether for shipment and to be assembled before or after beinglaid onthe ground.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a culvert ofthis general construction which can be quickly and easily assembled byunskilled labor Without the use of tools or implements of any kind andwhich, when assembled, will be securely locked together to provide astrong, rigid construction which will be durable and service-able.

Another object of the invention. is to provide improved means, forconnecting the opposed edges of the complementary sections so that theywill be retained against relative lateral displacement and which will beof such construction and character that the sections can be readilyengaged therewith and moved longitudinally thereof, if desired, so thatthe fastening means may be brought into registration.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the invention willbe readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by referenceto the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, throughout the various views'of which likereference characters indicate similar parts. 7 7

Referring to the drawings, Figure is a side elevation partially insection of a culvert embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detailedperspective view of one of the connecting elements.

It will be observed that each section 4 of the culvert is formedofcorrugated metal having the corrugations extending transverselythereof. These sections are preferably semi-circular in shape and may beof any convenient or desired length, the varioussections being alike inconstruction and adapted to nest one within the other for storage andshipmentpurposes. When the parts are assembled one section is invertedover theiother to form a substantially cylindricalf'construction, asdisclosed in Fig. 2. Forthe' purpose of holding the opposed edges of thecomplementary section's against relative lateral displacement we preferto employ substantially H-shaped members 5 which provide oppositelydisposed channels 6 and 7 having substantially straight and parallelWalls, While these members may be constructed in any suitable manner weprefer to utilize for convenience in manufacture a pair of channelmembers which are placed back to back and spot-welded or rivetedtogether to produce a member similar to those shown in Fig. 3. The sidewalls of these members are spaced apart to receivethe opposed edges ofthe sections 4 between them, the distance between the walls beingsubstantially equal to the depth of the corrugations in the sections sothat the walls embrace the convex portions of the corrugations only bothon the inside and outside of the assembled culvert. This construction ofthe connecting members permits the sev-' eral parts of the culvert to bereadily assembled. It will be apparent that these connecting membersserve to hold the opposed edges of the culvert sections against relativelateral displacement but that either or both sections may be movedlongitudinally with respect to the other or with re- 7 spect to theconnecting member without being disengaged therefrom, In other words,the H-shaped members are not designed to hold the sections againstlongitudinal movement but are adapted to receive the edges of theopposed sections irrespective of the alinement of the corrugations on"said sections, thereby producing a construction which can be assembledwith considerable rapidity and ease.

For the purpose of locking the sections and the connecting memberstogether so that the culvert may be assembled and thensubsequentlyrolled into the ditch or other position where it is to belaid, we have provided locking means which automatically lock the partstogethenas' they are assembled, thereby obviating theuse of specialtools of any form and in fact obviatingthe use of any tools whatsoeverin the assembling of the culvert. The locldng means, as

shown in Figs. 1 and 2, comprise hook tongues 8 riveted at intervals toeach section adjacent one edge thereof and corresponding eye members 9riveted to each section adjacent the opposite edges thereof; Eachsection is therefore provided on one edge with a plurality of hooks andalong its other edge with a corresponding number of eyes, and thesehooks and eyes are so located that a hook will register with each eyewhen the sections are assembled in culvert form. The hook tongues andthe eye members are so fastened to the sections that the free endsthereof having the hooks 12 and eyes 11 will stand out from the sectionsslightly to enable them to be readily engaged in the operation ofassembling the sections. When two of the culvert sections are positionedin assembled relation the hooks 12 on each section enter the eyes 11 onthe opposite section, and the resiliency of the metal causes each hookto spring outwardly into engagement with the end of its correspondingeye to thereby automatically lock the sections together. It will beobvious therefore that the operation of assembling our improved culvertconsists merely in placing the connecting members 5 upon the upwardlyprojecting edges of one of the sections lying on the ground and thenplacing another section upon the first section so that its edges enterbetween the walls of the connecting .members and the hooks and eyes arealined with the corresponding eyes and hooks of the other sectionwhereupon downward pressure exerted upon the upper section will causethe hook and eye fasteners to snap into mutual engagement and beautomatically interlocked.

In practice one end of each section is slightly smaller than theopposite end so that the successive sections can be fitted together endto end as shown in Fig. 1. In this figure reference character 13indicates the smaller end of one section and reference character 141 thelarger end of the succeeding section, which overlaps the smaller end, asshown. The connecting elements 5 are preferably disposed to break jointswith the culvert sections, one joint 15 being shown in Fig. 1 asdisposed midway between successive joints of the culvert sections.

It will be manifest that the culvert sections and the connectingelements may be made of any desired length and size, that the number offastening devices employed may vary as occasion requires and that thestructure of the fastening devices and of the details disclosed may beconsiderably varied within the scope of our invention as set forth inthe following claims.

7 We claim:

1. A sheet metal culvert comprising duplicate sheet metal semi-tubularbody members having their edges free from flanges, a sheet metaledge-retainer for each pair of opposed edges of the body members, saidedge-retainer including a pair of sheet metal channels disposed back toback, one of said channels being adapted to embrace an edge of one ofthe body members and the other channel being adapted to embrace theopposed edge of the other body member, and a plurality of sheet metalsnap fasteners secured on the exteriors of the body members, each pairof engaged fasteners bridging the joint between the edges of the bodywhen a pair of body members are assembled.

2. A sheet metal culvert comprising duplicate sheet metal semi-tubularbody members having their edges free from flanges, an edge-retainer foreach pair of opposed edges of the body members, said edge-retainercomprising a pair of channel-shaped members, each channel-shaped memberconsisting of a single strip of sheet metal bent to substantiallyU-shape of a width approximating that of an edge of a body member toembrace one of said edges, the channelshaped members v being disposedback to back in abutting relation and fastened together against relativemovement, the combined base portions of the channel members constitutinga filler between opposed edges of the body members, and a plurality ofsheet metal snap fasteners secured on the exteriors of the body members,each pair of engaged fasteners bridging the joint between the edges ofthe body when a pair of body members are assembled. I

3. A sheet metal culvert comprising duplicate sheet metal semi-tubularbody members having their edges free from flanges, an ed ge-retainer foreach pair of opposed edges of the body members, said edge-retainercomprising a pair of channel-shaped members, each channel-shaped memberconsisting of a single strip of sheet metal bent to substantiallyU-shape of a width approximating that of an edge of a body member toembrace one of said edges, the channelshaped members being disposed backto back in abutting relation and fastened together against relativemovement, the combined base portions of the channel members constitutinga filler between opposed edges of the body members.

. ASHEL W. CROTSLY. WILL SAWYER.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT, FRANKLIN M. WARDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addres'sing the Commissionerof Patents,

I Washington, D. 0.? I

